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I have been using the cricut for the last four years with 3rd party software. I am now looking for a new machine. One option is the gazelle. I need a machine that uses MTC, can handle detailed cuts, do print and cut and emboss. So far it looks the like the gazelle has all of my requirements. For those who have this machine, how do you like it? What are the pros and cons of this machine?

DH & I bought a Gazelle earlier this year. It seems to handle detail cuts ok, although Bazzil Basics paper is iffy (something to do with the softness/fiber content). I haven't ever tried to do print & cut - there is a laser alignment but it isn't something I was ever interested in. It does work with MTC (actually, we bought MTC after deciding that Funtime wasn't for me) and MTC seems to have integrated flawlessly.
Cons? Well, I think the machine itself is pretty decent. There isn't a whole lot of technical help available just in general (like youtube vids, etc) but the actual machine itself seems good. I've heard (although I have nothing to compare it to) that it's pretty loud - but it wasn't enough to bother me. My biggest problem with it was the software - but if you're planning to use MTC that's not a concern anyway.
Hubby & I have decided to sell ours. Honestly, I think I need something less. And he's given up on his idea that he would use it too. If all I need is something to cut paper with - well it's silly to keep something like this sitting around collecting dust!

__________________All inked up... and somewhere to go.My gallery, small but mighty... or maybe just mighty small!Come see my almost new blog... M'ija Stamps!

I may be a bit biased...but, I love my Gazelle. Yes, it is a bit noisy but I can live with that and it sits in my dining room/crafting area and it is not really that big of a deal while DH watches TV.

As for technical help...there is a user forum for owners that is the best there is. A helpful response is usually right away. There are all kinds of training videos and a gallery of projects made with the Gazelle....and, I see some pretty intricate projects made too!

Cathy

__________________I stand alone without beliefs...the only truth I know is you

I use MTC with the Gazelle. I prefer it over Funtime. I don't even have Funtime installed on my computer any more. Three point registration is in the new machines, so, try not to buy used when getting a Gazelle because details are still sketchy but we might have to replace our Motherboard. If you buy new everything is ready. BK is still waiting on a couple of details with the software. I am a computer geek so that is common with MotherBoard updates. BossKut likes to be perfect with their machines. I meant to add we are getting a three point registration cutting instead of the one dot laser cutting as before. Three point is always accurate.

Now, that's my con, lol. BossKut's perfection. Don't you let that sway you at all. It's my con since I am a computer geek. I am like it's my machine I can figure it out for myself thank you very much. I get all miffed and insulted, lol. I get it from BossKut's side and I appreciate how they treat their machines. Please don't let that con sway you. I get grumpy about all the hand holding with the machine. A few of the other cutters out are like that too. It's the same in the sewing machine world so I understand why the companies do it.

Next to the Silhouette SD this is the most accurate of the machines I have tried for detailed cutting. I have got to try them all, luckily. Black Cat cuts accurate but it's so huge. I like the Gazelle's small size.

There is a huge learning curve on this machine. You will need to set down and learn it. Take your time and go through all the tutorials on Gazelle's site. This will help you use MTC better too. I am a Cricut user too and it's a big difference.

It's a noisy machine. I have an antique desk which makes it even noisier. I have to set it on a towel to muffle the noise. BK even has said the machine is noisy.

Pro's-

Detailed cutting is accurate.

Circles & Ovals are perfect.

Cuts curves at a sharper angle than the Cricut. Cricut cuts at a more rounded angle. Both of those are pro's to the machines depending on the look you want.

Can take any pen, marker or writing tool you throw at it. You can use Copics in this machine.

Can use the Cricut mats for good placement cutting with MTC.

Machine is made out of all metal. The only plastic is the side drawers.

Cons-

Noisy

Funtime does not vectorize images correctly. Since you already use MTC you will see what I mean when you try to vectorize with Funtime. It's frustating.

Gazelle advertises that it does needle pierce. No, it does not.

Learning curve but since your using MTC it will be easier.

Going from a Cricut to a Gazelle can be a bit of user shock. The buttons are much different than the Cricut. the buttons can be confusing. I am a three year Gazelle girl and I get all turned around going from a Cricut project to the Gazelle.

I think the machine might ship with the pre-set blade holder. If not you will get the original blade holder. That is a learning curve too. It is easy to master once you watch one of Terri's videos. I do not have the Pre-set holder since I was able to figure out my original one.

That cuss word dongle to use Funtime drives me absolutely crazy. Big reason why I went with MTC. I got tired of fooling with the dongle. It wasn't an issue of misplacing the dongle. it was an issue of remembering to put the dongle in when I wanted to use it. I am not even thinking of upgrading the machine when the upgrade comes out because I hate the dongle so much.

You might have read Jin's review on the Gazelle (Under A Cherry Tree). She said it leaves black scuff marks on your table. Yes, it does. I couldn't believe she got yelled at for that. I have black marks on my table to prove it. I know that might seem a silly thing to con about. I agree with Jin it does bother me too. Also bothers me the Cricut feet like to fall off.

That's all I can think of right now. If you have specific questions about it I can Pro & Con those questions for you in more detail. As you can see I can get nit picky.

I do want to say that any fibrous cardstock is very hard to cut with any die cut machine. I had trouble with thick Bazzill and the Gazelle too. It just tore it to pieces and destroyed my blade. I did turn around and do a test cut on my Cricut and it cut. It didn't cut well but it didn't look like a dog ate it either like the Gazelle did.

Just an add....as to Bazzill cardstock. I purchased the preset blade holder and I used BCS on my son's wedding invitations. I cut well over 500 pieces from it using the preset blade holder and the suggested settings. Not once did I have an issue with cutting the BCS. The only issue I had was the cutting mats losing their stickiness during a cut. I now tape down anything I am cutting and I rotate my mats.

As for black marks...I haven't seen them as my Gazelle stand is a black filing cabinet at the moment. If it bothers me too much when I get my white furniture I will sit it on a glass cutting mat and then it will be super easy to clean.

Cathy

__________________I stand alone without beliefs...the only truth I know is you

Just an add....as to Bazzill cardstock. I purchased the preset blade holder and I used BCS on my son's wedding invitations. I cut well over 500 pieces from it using the preset blade holder and the suggested settings. Not once did I have an issue with cutting the BCS. The only issue I had was the cutting mats losing their stickiness during a cut. I now tape down anything I am cutting and I rotate my mats.

As for black marks...I haven't seen them as my Gazelle stand is a black filing cabinet at the moment. If it bothers me too much when I get my white furniture I will sit it on a glass cutting mat and then it will be super easy to clean.

I am an avid Gazelle Junky...I've had my machine for nearly two years now and it is amazing. I do the print and cut with it and actually, unlike others, have had very little issues with it, though I am excited for the motherboard upgrade - the biggest problem with the motherboard upgrade is that I have to not have my Gazelle for a few days.

I use my machine nearly every day. Lately I have been using the Rhinestone feature of Funtime like crazy, and did 43 different Rhinestone projects in 3 weeks (Yes, I'm nuts. It's ok to say it.) I LOVE that feature of Funtime, and I LOVE the lattice feature.

I cut Bazzil card stock all the time with the pre-set holder with no issue....I even cut out 300 monograms out of very thick shimmer cardstock with few issues (the issues I did have were due to my file that *I* created....Once Terri, who is Bosskut Tech Support, showed me how to fix the file, it was smooth sailing). And the shimmer cardstock was just layer after layer of paper....I was shocked it cut at all, let alone 300 very detailed monograms..

My cons - well, its noisy. It really is, but it doesn't bother me. I put it on a piece of felt and it was fine after that. I just don't cut when people are trying to sleep.

I haven't had an issue with the black scuff marks like others have but I got lucky? I slide it back and forth on my wood desk all the time with no issues.

There IS a learning curve with this machine. You have to take the time to learn the workings of the machine...if you are going to use MTC with it, and you already KNOW MTC, then it won't be as much...but watch the videos, read the tutorials, ask questions. It's not plug and play.

I would purchase it again and again, frankly. I adore it. And I can't thank DeAnn enough for introducing me to it!

As for tech support - there are a lot of videos on the video training site, and the staff at BK are amazing and will help with anything they can.

I was all frazzled last night. I have been sick for the past couple of weeks and DH is sick this week. I kept leaving stuff out of my posts. I sound a bit hard on FunTime and left out a few things. I really love FunTime software and I love to design with it. I don't like how it vectorizes though. MTC & SCAL vectorize ten times better than Funtime. MTC vectorizes the best out of them all. If you work with a lot of coloring pages, etc and you don't have the computer knowledge of traditional paper piercing then use a software like MTC because Funtime you will be frustrated and think it's you or the machine.

I would use FunTime as my main software for designing if it was not for that dongle. If you are an Illustrator user you can use that program with the Gazelle. With a little tweaking and coding work I was able to get the Gazelle to work with Inkscape.

I know most of us Cricut users are MTC or SCAL users too. So, Funtime has become a background software in the last year since users want to use their favorite cutting program. It is a good companion to SCAL & MTC. I just don't use it any more because I am annoyed with the dongle and I do hard core vector designing in Inkscape.

If you were a FairyCut Cricut user then you are even more ahead of the game learning the Gazelle. FairyCut is Funtime software.

Thanks this is a serious contender for my next cutter. I use MTC and Faircut with my Cricut. I haven't mastered FC like I have MTC. I have also played around with Funtime lite. So I am thinking the software won't be as big a shock for me. I agree Funtime and Fairy Cut do have a steep learning curve. By the way the Gazelle is on sale for $420.00 at Boss Kut right now. I still need to save up a bit more before I can buy it.. I am sure it will be worth the wait.

If you are able to spend $400 on a cutter, please visit the Make-the-Cut website/forum and check out the "Zing". Preorders are shipping and another order is due in a couple of weeks. If money were no object and I really wanted to cut all the things that the Zing is capable of cutting, I would be on the preorder list anxiously awaiting shipment of my Zing, but I really only want to cut cardstock and cereal box weight chipboard and am leaning toward getting a Silhouette Cameo when they are more readily available and I catch a good deal. I think the Cameo will meet my needs and be a better price point for me personally. Since you are already familar with MTC software, you really should investigate their cutter before you purchase! Good luck and let us know what you decide!

If you are able to spend $400 on a cutter, please visit the Make-the-Cut website/forum and check out the "Zing". Preorders are shipping and another order is due in a couple of weeks. If money were no object and I really wanted to cut all the things that the Zing is capable of cutting, I would be on the preorder list anxiously awaiting shipment of my Zing, but I really only want to cut cardstock and cereal box weight chipboard and am leaning toward getting a Silhouette Cameo when they are more readily available and I catch a good deal. I think the Cameo will meet my needs and be a better price point for me personally. Since you are already familar with MTC software, you really should investigate their cutter before you purchase! Good luck and let us know what you decide!

The Cameo is my third digital cutter...I just received it a week ago and I absolutely LOVE it!!! I also own the original CraftROBO (which is the same thing as the Silhouette) and a Pazzles Inspiration, in fact, I served on the Pazzles Design Team for a year. I am mainly a card maker and I love to do REALLY intricate cuts and believe it or not my little CraftROBO does a fantastic job on them....so much so that I swore if Silhouette came out with a cutter that would cut 12", I would buy it......and I did! I actually had done a pre-order of the KNK Zing and then switched my order to the Cameo, because of how dang good my CraftROBO cuts. I really can't say enough good about it......just visit my blog and look at some of the things I've already cut and look through it at what I've cut over the past 5 years! And the really cool part is that it cost me $130 less than the Zing.......$269.00 at Paperthreads. I think some people have bought their's from Oh My Crafts for as little as $215!!!

Thanks this is a serious contender for my next cutter. I use MTC and Faircut with my Cricut. I haven't mastered FC like I have MTC. I have also played around with Funtime lite. So I am thinking the software won't be as big a shock for me. I agree Funtime and Fairy Cut do have a steep learning curve. By the way the Gazelle is on sale for $420.00 at Boss Kut right now. I still need to save up a bit more before I can buy it.. I am sure it will be worth the wait.

If you're really interested you can send me a PM. DH is the one who will ultimately decide the price - but I think he's willing to sell it for $100 less.

__________________All inked up... and somewhere to go.My gallery, small but mighty... or maybe just mighty small!Come see my almost new blog... M'ija Stamps!

Can someone explain to me how the new three point print and cut alignment works on the newer Gazelle? They claim there is info in the bosskut forum, but I think it is only in the owner's section - which doesn't help someone considering the machine.

Is it an optical reader like the Cameo? Or do you manually line up the registration marks with the laser somehow? Or what?

Can someone explain to me how the new three point print and cut alignment works on the newer Gazelle? They claim there is info in the bosskut forum, but I think it is only in the owner's section - which doesn't help someone considering the machine.

Is it an optical reader like the Cameo? Or do you manually line up the registration marks with the laser somehow? Or what?

Yes, the Silhouette Cameo is the only machine with the optical eye as it is my understanding that Graphtec owns the patent for it. I've had my Cameo about 2 weeks now, and I'm loving it!!!! Go to my blog to see some items I've cut with and check out how well it does on intricate cuts of small items, which I think is VERY important to card designers and creators!

Also, it is my understanding that you can purchase it this weekend at Oh My Crafts this weekend for $215.99 plus free shipping with coupon code "thanks20"! I paid $269...but it was well worth it!!!

Can someone explain to me how the new three point print and cut alignment works on the newer Gazelle? They claim there is info in the bosskut forum, but I think it is only in the owner's section - which doesn't help someone considering the machine.

Is it an optical reader like the Cameo? Or do you manually line up the registration marks with the laser somehow? Or what?

I know it has a laser alignment. I have seen videos on youtube for the old print and cut but not the new. Once I get my machine and I let you know how it works. Hopefully someone can give more information sooner.

I thought Graphtec owned the patent for 3 point. I was wondering about that too. A lot of the companies are coming out saying "3 Point registration." I thought I was wrong and Silhouette did not own the patent. Thank you YorkieMama for posting that.

I went on BK's forum and the three point registration looks like a calibration cross hair hatch set up. I know that makes no sense. It barely makes sense to me but I can see it in my head. It sounds to me like the original setup but instead of one cross hair we now have three.

Hopefully somebody can explain it better that has upgraded their machine or has a newer one.

My DH bought me a Cricut Imagine last night as a surprise. I am in love with it. I know it's a cartridge base machine but I have a lot of cartridges. This machine opened the world for me in possibilities. I don't think I will be upgrading the Gazelle since I want to learn about my Imagine right now.